Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Yomindy.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Yomindyxe2x80x99.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Salinas, Calif. and Fort Myers, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.
The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross made in December, 1996, in Salinas, Calif., of an unnamed Chrysanthemum proprietary seedling selection, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Chrysanthemum cultivar Empire Crown Jewel, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,738, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Fort Myers, Fla. in October, 1998. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive ray floret color and good garden performance.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Fort Myers, Fla. since December, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Yomindy has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Yomindyxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Yomindyxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and mounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
4. Daisy-type inflorescences.
5. Purple-colored ray florets that do not fade with bright yellow-colored disc florets.
6. Natural season flowering in late September in the Northern Hemisphere.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Fort Myers, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the female parent, the unnamed selection, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered earlier than plants of the female parent under natural season conditions.
2. Ray florets of the new Chrysanthemum and the female parent differed in ray floret coloration.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are most similar to plants of the male parent, the cultivar Empire Crown Jewel. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Fort Myers, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Empire Crown Jewel in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were fuller and more dense than plants of the cultivar Empire Crown Jewel.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered more uniformly than plants of the cultivar Empire Crown Jewel.
3. Ray florets of the new Chrysanthemum were darker in color than ray florets of the cultivar Empire Crown Jewel.